1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to ceiling tile installation and, more particularly, to a tool for cutting elongate runner stock material used to support such tiles.
2. Background Art
Ceiling tiles are commonly used in both commercial and residential applications. The tiles are installed by forming a grid pattern on site at the desired height for the tiles. Grid stock material consists of elongate metal runners with an inverted “T”-shaped cross-sectional configuration. The upwardly facing surfaces on the crossbars of the “T” in the grid cooperatively define a cradle for the individual tiles. The bottom surfaces of the crossbars of the “T” remain exposed with the tiles in place and are thus finished, as by painting, to produce a desired look in conjunction with the supported tiles.
The use of acoustic tiles in ceiling construction is preferred for a number of reasons. First of all, a substantial amount of flexibility is offered in terms of aesthetics. Tiles with many different looks, textures, colors, etc are currently offered, thereby making numerous aesthetic options readily available.
Ceiling tiles can also be selected for their acoustic properties. Most tile constructions are made with a substantial thickness and from materials with good sound absorption characteristics.
Ceiling tile construction is also preferred in that it lends itself to being readily placed through a range of heights that can be selected to efficiently accommodate water pipes, electrical conduits, or other structure at the ceiling location that is to be covered by the tile ceiling.
The tile ceiling construction is also desirable from the standpoint that the tiles can be simply installed once the grid is constructed. At the same time, after initial installation, the individual tiles are easily repositioned to gain strategic access to different overlying components or regions to allow desired operations to be performed. These operations may include repair of existing components, installation of new components or systems, etc.
Grid formation is carried out by suspending crossing runners from wire hangers. Multiple lengths of the runner stock can be spliced end-to-end to span the whole dimension of a ceiling area. At least one of the runner ends must generally be cut to terminate flushly at a wall or another vertically extending surface at the level of the ceiling. Installing a ceiling of this type over a large area may require that a large number of such cuts be made at the crossing runner ends.
Heretofore, the runner ends have been cut to length using a conventional snips. Different cutting techniques using the snips are commonly used.
One such technique involves placing a visible line on the downwardly facing, finished surface on the crossbar of the “T” shape. Separate cuts can be made from the opposite edges of the crossbar towards the stem of the crossbar. A separate cut can then be made through the stem. It is difficult to form all cuts so that they meet in a manner that there is a complete severance of the unwanted length. Commonly, the unwanted length is repeatedly bent back and forth to weaken, and eventually cause failure, of any uncut connecting portion. Upon eventual separation, a slight burr may remain that may cause an impediment to a close fit and/or detract from the appearance of the cut region where it is exposed in the finished installation.
In the event that there is not a good fit that results after the cut is made, a subsequent trim cut may be required involving a repetition of the above steps. It may be even more difficult to effect the subsequent trimming cut in a manner to produce a straight, clean edge that does not have a jagged appearance.
Regardless of the care taken in making the cut, the pinching action resulting from the use of a snips inherently tends to produce a slight curling at the cut edge. This by itself may detract from the appearance of the runner at this location and may additionally compromise the paint or other finish that is applied at the exposed surface of the crossbar of the “T”. These problems may be aggravated in the event that the snips are not of good quality or are not properly sharpened.
The use of a conventional snips to effect the cutting is made difficult by the shape of the runner material. Commonly, the runners are made from sheet metal stock that is doubled against itself at certain locations. The mix of different thicknesses may cause skewing of the snips as cutting is carried out, and may also cause the runner end to bend noticeably.
Techniques other than that specifically described above may be used to cut the runner material with conventional snips. However, regardless of the technique employed, the above-noted problems are generally contended with.
Additionally, aside from the fact that it is difficult to precisely cut the ends of the runners without any aesthetically detrimental effect, the cutting process is inherently inconvenient and relatively time consuming. Severance of the runner material generally involves at least three different steps—separate cutting of the crossbar halves to the stem, and subsequently severing of the stem of the “T”. With shorter lengths, the runner material might be conveniently repositioned by an installer to allow the runner piece to be conveniently situated for repeated cutting steps. With a long runner piece, the individual effecting the cut may be required to reposition him/herself to achieve a comfortable cutting position.
On small projects, the above problems may not be significant in terms of overall time loss. However, in large commercial installations, the accumulated time loss may be significant. In a worse case, after inspection of a completed job, follow-up work may be required to dress unsightly edges or re-cut materials, thereby further reducing efficiencies.
In spite of the large volume of such installations, the industry continues to contend with the above problems because no viable alternative techniques or tools have been devised to overcome the same.